Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-17

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows the process for recycling plastic bottles.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

How plastic bottles are recycled

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The diagram displays the recycling procedure of plastic bottles. Overall, it can be seen that the bottles are taking from the bins and later come to recycling center. After compressing and crushing, it can pass through washing process. Before making useful products, the bottles go from heating pellets to form raw materials.

Initially, garbage collecter collects waste and put it on a loader. Subsequently, the plastic bottles are sorted into good and bad conditions. By compressing, bottles get a shape of a huge block. Furthermore, the block of bottles is crushed into small pieces and washed out. The plastic pellets are produced then, by heat and turn into the form of raw material. In the second last process, these raw materials are

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the topic and describe several central stages, including sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating. However, the response only partially covers the process: it ends mid-sentence at “these raw materials are” and does not explain that raw material is used to produce end products or that the cycle returns to the start. The overview is also unclear and contains an inaccurate description: bottles are put into a recycling bin, not “taking from the bins,” and the diagram does not show a loader. The response is 122 words, below the required 150, which contributes to the missing stages and limited development. To improve, give a complete overview and report the final stages and closed-loop nature of the process.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response follows the general order of the process, and sequencing expressions such as “Initially,” “Subsequently,” and “Furthermore” help the reader follow the stages. The opening overview also gives the response a basic structure. However, the progression is incomplete because the final paragraph stops at “these raw materials are,” leaving the process unfinished and the ending abrupt. Some links between stages are unclear, particularly “The plastic pellets are produced then, by heat and turn into the form of raw material,” which makes the sequence difficult to follow. Use separate, complete paragraphs for the overview and process details, and connect each stage with clear references to the material being processed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “compressing,” “crushed,” “washed,” “pellets,” and “raw material,” so the topic is generally clear. There is also some attempt to vary wording, for example “procedure” and “process.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate: “garbage collecter” is not the right term for the truck, “put it on a loader” is unsupported by the diagram, and “washed out” does not clearly describe the washing stage. “Good and bad conditions” is also less precise than describing accepted and rejected bottles. Choose vocabulary that matches the diagram and use standard process collocations, such as “collected by a truck” and “sorted into recyclable and non-recyclable bottles.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including the overview sentence beginning “Overall” and the sequence “After compressing and crushing, it can pass through washing process.” However, errors are frequent and sometimes make the process unclear. In “the bottles are taking from the bins,” the passive form is incorrect; use “are taken.” “Garbage collecter collects waste and put” has a subject–verb agreement problem and inconsistent verb forms, while “it can pass” does not agree clearly with the plural bottles. Articles and sentence construction also need attention in “through washing process” and “The plastic pellets are produced then, by heat and turn.” Practise accurate passive forms and keep verb forms consistent when describing each stage.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.